Method of brewing and dispensing coffee to a mug

ABSTRACT

A method for operating a hot beverage maker includes the steps of infusing fresh water and storing the resulting beverage in a removable brewed beverage tank. An actuator is engaged for dispensing the brewed beverage from the tank. The tank is placed on a platform in a relationship so as to engage a warmer plate to keep the contents of the tank warm. Accordingly, the hot beverage maker produces a brewed beverage that is stored in the tank until it is dispensed by a user.

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/025,991 now abandoned, which is a divisional of U.S. application Ser.No. 13/190,545, filed Jul. 26, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,590,445; whichis a continuation of abandoned U.S. application Ser. No. 11/466,868,filed Aug. 24, 2006; which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. applicationSer. No. 10/838,307, filed May 4, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,543,528;which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/720,769, filedNov. 24, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,461,586; which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/403,438, filed Mar.31, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,681,960; which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 10/011,759, filed Dec. 11, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No.6,564,975. Each of these applications/patents are incorporated byreference herein.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure relates to a convenient hot beverage maker having adispenser thereby allowing a user to dispense any amount of beveragedesired.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many types and styles of hot beverage makers, especially coffee makers,are known and have been sold for many years. The standard components inthese coffee makers include a stand or tower that has a warming plate onthe bottom and a filter basket at the top. The coffee maker furtherincludes a carafe that rests on the warming plate and below the filterbasket in order to receive brewed liquid from the filter basket.

A problem with traditional coffee makers is the mess that results fromusing the coffee maker. A user must clean both the carafe and filterbasket after each use. Further, if there is no automatic pause and servefeature, then a user must wait for an entire batch to run beforeremoving the carafe to pour a cup of coffee. Even after the batch isrun, there may be additional drips that would spill onto the hot warmingplate once a carafe is removed for pouring. A warming plate may becomedirty with overflow or excess dripage, thereby causing an unappealingaroma.

Also, the use of a carafe is an extra step in the coffee making process.It is another component to place in a dishwasher or fill storage space.While a carafe is likely desirable if a user is pouring numerous cups,it typically takes two hands to pour a single cup of coffee—one hand forthe cup and one hand for the carafe. Also, it is possible to cause asplash or spillage simply in the removal or reinserting process of thecarafe into and out of the coffee maker stand.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present disclosure overcomes the foregoing drawbacksand provides a hot beverage maker having a dispenser. This way, a carafebecomes unnecessary. Also, a user can easily dispense only as muchcoffee into a cup or mug as the user desires by using a single hand. Theclean up process is simplified. All of the potential issues and problemsrelated to using a carafe disappear.

In one embodiment, a hot beverage maker comprises a stand, a fresh waterchamber, a brewed beverage tank, and actuator means for dispensing abrewed beverage. The tank comprises a filter basket, a reservoirportion, and an outlet port. The reservoir portion is adapted to hold abrewed liquid. The brewed beverage tank is removable from the stand.Also, the fresh water chamber may comprise transparent walls that allowthe user to observe the fresh water level in the chamber. Also,alternatively, the brewed beverage tank may comprise a transparentwindow to allow a user to observe the brewed beverage level in the tank.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a one embodiment of a coffee maker inaccordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the coffee maker shown in FIG. 1 withthe lid in the open position.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the coffee maker shown in FIGS. 1 and 2with the brew tank removed and with the lid in the open position.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation, cross sectional view of the coffee makershown in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are side elevation cross sectional views detailing oneembodiment of the dispenser actuator mechanism in accordance with oneembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a brew tank andfilter basket as disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1 through 7 illustrate one or more embodiments of a hot beveragemaker as disclosed herein. Naturally, a design engineer having ordinaryskill with the assembly of coffee makers will be able to create a coffeemaker that incorporates the teachings of the present invention, butwhich may look different and incorporate different, alternative parts. Acup-actuated dispenser makes the unit very convenient and very differentfrom existing coffee makers that include, for instance, a carafe andother components unnecessary in the present invention.

Turning now to FIG. 1, there is shown a coffee maker 10 that is made upof a stand 11, fresh water reservoir 12, brewed beverage tank 13, and alid 14. The stand 11 forms the base of coffee maker 10 and supports thereservoir 12 and tank 13. The stand 11 includes a recess 20 in which issituated a push-button 21. Adjacent to recess 20 are the electricalswitches 22 that operate the coffee maker 10 and allow the user to, forinstance, program a start time or set the time of the clock 23. Ofcourse, these electrical switches 22 may be analog or digital. Fewer ormore controls may be applicable for a given model of coffee maker.

The fresh water reservoir 12 has transparent sidewalls 30. Thetransparent sidewalls 30 allow users to easily and immediately determinewhether and how much fresh water is in the coffee maker 10. Of course,nontransparent walls may be used, or a vertical window slot could beused. A water level indicator may also facilitate the ability of a userto accurately gauge the water volume.

The fresh water reservoir 12 rests on the stand 11. The fresh waterreservoir 12 wraps partially around the brewed beverage tank 13. Thebrewed beverage tank 13 also rests on the stand 11. The brewed beveragetank 13 has a transparent window 25 which allows a user to observe veryeasily and quickly how much brewed beverage is contained within the tank13. Finally, a lid 14 is rotatably connected to back wall of thereservoir 12. The lid 14 is adapted to cover both the fresh waterreservoir 12 and the brewed beverage tank 13.

FIG. 2 is similar to FIG. 1 except that the lid 14 is rotated up to theopen position in FIG. 2. With the lid 14 open, there can be seen aremovable filter basket 40 that is mountable with the brewed beveragetank 13. The showerhead 35 is connected to the lid 14 and rotates up anddown with the lid. Support arm 36 is a channel connecting the showerhead35 to the hot water tube shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 3 is a still further view of the coffee maker 10 wherein the brewedbeverage tank has been removed. The stand 11 includes a platform 50which is adapted to support the brewed beverage tank shown in the otherfigures. The apertures 37 on the bottom of the showerhead 35 allow forthe even distribution of water into the filter basket when theshowerhead/lid is in the down position. The end of the arm portion 36 ofthe showerhead 35 includes an aperture 38. When the lid 14 is rotatedopen, the aperture 38 rotates around and diverts the flow of hot waterback into the fresh water reservoir 12.

The platform 50 includes a warmer plate 51 which is adapted to engagethe bottom of the brewed beverage tank to keep a brewed beverage insidethe tank warm. The platform 50 is molded in part into a recess that isadapted to receive in a mating fashion the molded male portion 110 (seeFIG. 7) of the bottom of a brew tank. In this mating relationship, thetank is properly aligned and retained in position in the stand 11.Referring briefly back to FIG. 2, hooks 42 engage the top of the freshwater tank walls 30 to work with the male portion 110 to properlyposition the tank 13 on the stand 11. Finally, the platform 50 includesan aperture 53 from which protrudes a lever that makes up part of thedispenser actuator. (See FIGS. 4-6).

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of the coffee maker 10 that provides aview of the operational components of the coffee maker. The portions ofthe coffee maker 10 not previously shown include the water tube 60 whichcarries heated water from the hot water heater element 61 up to the pipe62 and then showerhead 35 via the arm 36. The top of the pipe 62 ishingedably connected to the end of the arm 36. The arm 36 includes anaperture 38 which is aligned with an opening to the pipe 62 when theshowerhead 35 and lid 14 are in the down position as shown. However,when the showerhead 35/lid 14 are swivelled upwardly, the aperture 38 isrotated around and hot water is rerouted back into the fresh waterreservoir 12 to prevent any water flow out of the showerhead when it isin the up position. Although not shown, there is a further tube that isadjacent to the tube 60 that carries the fresh cold water from the freshwater reservoir 12 through the heater coil 61 to the hot water pipe 62as shown.

The brewed beverage tank 13 is made up of the filter basket 40 that hasan aperture 41 at the bottom of the filter basket to allow the infusedwater to drip into the reservoir portion 45 of the brewed beverage tank13. An outlet port 70 is the aperture through which the brewed beveragemay be allowed to exit the brewed beverage tank 13. The filter basket 40is conventional in structure and dimension in order to be easily usable.As is also evident from FIG. 4, the bottom of the reservoir portion 45slopes generally from the back of the coffeemaker (i.e., the fresh waterreservoir 12) to the front where the port 70 is fixed. Thisconfiguration allows full drainage out of the bottom towards the frontof the tank 13 where a user's cup may be easily placed for dispensing.

Turning now to FIGS. 5 and 6, there is shown one embodiment of adispenser actuator mechanism in accordance with the present invention.FIGS. 5 and 6 demonstrate the mechanism in the biased closed position(FIG. 5) and in the open position as when a cup 100 is pressing againstthe push button 21 (FIG. 6).

Push button 21 is connected to one end of lever 80. Lever 80 has a pivotpoint 81 that is a hinge mounted behind the front face 82 of the stand11. The opposite end 83 of the lever 80 protrudes through aperture 53(see FIG. 3) that makes up a portion of the platform 50 of the stand 11.A second lever 90 is mounted onto the bottom 76 of the brew tank 13. Thelever 90 has a first end 91 and a second end 93 that are on oppositeends with a pivot 92 mounted on the bottom portion 76. Further, a spring95 biases the first end 91 of the lever 90 downwardly so that the secondend 93 is biased in a downward position. Plug 94 is adapted to seal theoutlet port 70 of the brew tank 13. The plug 94 is connected to secondend 93 and is urged upwardly or downwardly based on the movement of thesecond end 93 of the second lever 90. In the closed position shown inFIG. 5, the spring 95 urges the first end 91 downwardly so that thesecond end 93 is urged downwardly. Accordingly, the plug 94 is securelysealed to the outlet port 70. Alternatively, as demonstrated in FIG. 6,end 83 of the first lever 80 urges the first end 91 of the second lever90 against the bias of the spring 95. This moves the second end 93 ofthe second lever 90 upwardly to thereby open the outlet port 70 andallow brewed beverage to flow out of the brew tank 13.

While the “two-piece” actuator illustrated in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 is onetype of cup-actuated dispensing means, there are, of course, alternativetypes of dispenser actuators. There are numerous types of electronicdispensers that are well known in the refrigerator door ice anddispensers. Similarly, other types of mechanical dispensers may bedesigned to accommodate the specific engineering needs of a given coffeemaker structure.

FIG. 7 displays further embodiments of the brew tank 113 and filterbasket 140. The filter basket 140 is different from the earlierdescribed filter basket 40 in that it includes a handle 141 for makingremoval very simple. Similarly, the alternative brew tank 113 includes ahandle 111 to facilitate handling. The brew tank 113 also has atransparent window 125 allowing a user to observe the brewed beveragevolume inside. A spout 112 improves the use of the brew tank as a freshwater bucket to transfer fresh water from a sink or other source andpour it into the fresh water reservoir 12. Finally, lip 114 is merely adesign variation of the hooks 140 which allow the brew tank 113 toengage the top of the fresh water reservoir walls 30 to secure the brewtank 113 in place once it is mounted on the platform 50. The maleportion 110 is the molded piece of the bottom of the brew tank 113 whichis received in the platform 50.

While the invention has been described with reference to specificembodiments thereof, it will be understood that numerous variations,modifications and additional embodiments are possible, and all suchvariations, modifications, and embodiments are to be regarded as beingwithin the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of brewing and dispensing coffee to amug comprising the steps of: setting a clock provided with a hotbeverage maker; supplying a volume of heated water to a filter basket inthe hot beverage maker; infusing the water with a material to create abrewed beverage; directing the brewed beverage from the filter basketinto a brewed beverage tank; holding the brewed beverage in the brewedbeverage tank; engaging the bottom of the brewed beverage tank to awarmer plate to keep a brewed beverage inside the tank warm; energizinga heater adjacent to the warmer plate to keep the brewed beverage in thebrewed beverage tank heated; pressing a brewed beverage receptacleagainst a dispenser actuator provided with the hot beverage maker todispense the brewed beverage from the brewed beverage tank to the brewedbeverage receptacle via an outlet; and subsequently removing the brewedbeverage tank from the hot beverage maker.
 2. A method of brewing anddispensing coffee to a mug comprising the steps of: transporting freshwater to a hot beverage maker via a brewed beverage tank; pouring freshwater into a fresh water reservoir provided by the hot beverage maker;placing the brewed beverage tank on the hot beverage maker; engaging thebottom of the brewed beverage tank to a warmer plate; heating the freshwater; supplying a volume of the heated fresh water to a filter basketin the hot beverage maker; infusing the water with a material to createa brewed beverage; directing the brewed beverage from the filter basketinto the brewed beverage tank; holding the brewed beverage in the brewedbeverage tank; energizing a heater adjacent to the warmer plate to keepthe brewed beverage in the brewed beverage tank heated; and engaging anactuator to dispense a brewed beverage from the tank to a brewedbeverage receptacle via an outlet.